83b 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 19 
The Rural New=Yorker. 
THE BUSINESS FARMERS' PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Elbert S. Carman. Editor-In-Chief. 
Herbert W. Coli.ingwood, Managing’ Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
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We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
Be sure that the name and address of sender, with name of 
Post-office and State, and what the remittance is for, appear in 
every letter. Money orders and bank drafts on New York are the 
safest means of transmitting money. 
Address all business communications and make all orders pay¬ 
able to THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets, New York. 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1896. 
Owing to the severe drought in Australia, there 
has been a great decrease in the number of 
sheep. It is said that there was a loss of over 
9,000,000 sheep in one year. In Great Britain, too, 
there was a loss of more than 1,000,000 sheep. The 
chances are that, during the next few years, England 
will need to import increased quantities of mutton 
and wool, while Australia will not be able to send as 
much as formerly of either of these articles. That 
will make an increased demand for American sheep 
products, and there is a fair chance that prices will 
naturally rise. 
o 
Weigh and watch ! That is the pith of Mr. Man¬ 
chester’s advice about cow feeding (page 843). The 
scales will pick out the robber cows. The cows that fail 
to fill the pail are not all robbers. Some of them do 
not get enough to eat. If you do not feed the fire 
under the boiler, you cannot hope to make the engine 
work. If you do not fill the cow’s stomach, you can¬ 
not expect her to fill the pail. Do your own feeding ! 
See where the grain goes to and which cows get it. 
It will also pay you to strip after the milkers now 
and then. The scales will tell you what the cows are 
doing. If they fall behind, it may be due to a fault 
in the food or a lack of massage upon the teats. 
Weigh and watch ! 
® 
There may be 50 large animals that die in your 
neighborhood each year. Most of them are buried or 
carried to the swamp to be eaten by dogs. These 
animals are worth, at least, $8 each as fertilizer to 
provide nitrogen and phosphoric acid, and at least, 
$10 more for soap grease and poultry or hog food. 
Here we have nearly $1,000 “thrown to the dogs”. It 
might be saved and added to if some one would start 
a factory like the one described by Mr. Mapes on 
page 833. What stronger “ muscle-makers” can the 
hens hope for than the stout sinews that have carried 
the faithful old horse for years along the road ? Pos¬ 
sibly those dead animals may be made to put life into 
your financial condition. 
O 
The average per cent of butter fat found in the but¬ 
ter made during the 90-day test at the World’s Fair, 
was 82.4. That is the chemist’s statement, and it rep¬ 
resents the food value of the butter. The average of 
35 analyses of oleomargarine shows 82.7 per cent of 
fat and 1.3 per cent of muscle-makers. From the 
standpoint of the chemist’s analysis alone, therefore, 
the “oleo” is the stronger food. Yet we do not buy 
butter by its chemical analysis alone, for the question 
of the quality of the fat enters into the bargain. This 
simple illustration indicates how it may be possible 
for one fertilizer to analyze higher than another, yet 
be actually worth less money for certain crops. A 
manufacturer may put up a mixture of kainit, dis¬ 
solved rock and raw Redonda phosphate with some 
cheap form of organic nitrogen, and the chemist may 
find a high per cent of the three leading elements. 
Another dealer may mix bone, dissolved bone-black, 
blood, nitrate of soda, muriate of potash, etc., so that 
the chemist finds a little less of nitrogen, potash and 
phosphoric acid than in the other. Yet, any one who 
knows what a good fertilizer is, would select the bone 
mixture. To make a more practical illustration, let 
us take the analyses of corn bread and of cakes : 
Muscle-makers. Pat-formers. Pure fat. 
Corn bread. 8.5 47.3 2.7 
Cake. 7.0 63.4 8.1 
If we were to go by the analysis alone, we can see that 
the cake is worth but little more as an actual food, while 
we know that it will sell for five times as much. 
There is more egg in it and more sugar. In other 
words, it is bought for its quality. Buying fertilizers 
by the analysis alone is dangerous business. The 
English recognized this when they passed a law com¬ 
pelling fertilizer manufacturers not only to print the 
analysis on the tags, but also the form from which 
the plant food was derived. Our experiment stations 
try to aid buyers by printing in their bulletins the 
proportions of the various forms of nitrogen and the 
quality of the potash. The R. N.-Y. will try in com¬ 
ing issues to show how to make use of this information. 
© 
When reading of the profusion of flowers the year 
’round on the Pacific coast, one must remember that 
really choice roses for the San Francisco trade are all 
grown under glass, and the same is true of carnations. 
Half an acre of outdoor roses, presenting to the eye 
a gorgeous picture, may not contain a dozen perfect 
blooms that would pass muster with critical buyers. 
San Francisco is a good market for high-class flowers, 
especially American Beauty roses, and there is a 
rapidly increasing greenhouse area devoted to them. 
In former years, large quantities of roses were shipped 
to the coast, during the winter, from St. Paul or Den¬ 
ver. Similar conditions exist at New Orleans ; during 
the winter, the choicest roses entering that market 
are shipped from Chicago. One of the greatest draw¬ 
backs to the San Francisco grower is the high price 
of coal ; in spite of the mild climate, a certain amount 
of fire heat is required, and parsimony in this direc¬ 
tion is always followed by mildewed roses. 
© 
During the past year, there has been a large in¬ 
crease in the exports of American breadstuffs. The 
most remarkable feature of this is the fact that 80 
per cent of the increase is found at southern ports 
like Baltimore, Norfolk, New Orleans and Galveston. 
New York is actually losing some of its export trade 
in grain. The reason for this is evident when we 
examine a map of the United States. By utilizing 
the available waterways, and building direct rail¬ 
roads, the Southern ports are brought nearer the 
great grain fields of the West. It seems probable 
that the grain and provision exports from New 
Orleans are bound to increase, since through that 
port must go all the vast commerce of the Mississippi 
and its tributaries. The haul from the western grain 
States to Baltimore, Norfolk and Newport News is 
shorter than that to New York, and it is economy for 
exporters to reach the ocean with the least expense 
for freight. We cannot see why this southern export 
trade is not bound to increase in volume, and, in many 
ways, it is an excellent thing for the country. 
O 
There is a report that one of the largest butter 
dealers in New York City has notified creameries 
that he does not care to buy butter made with the 
improved butter cultures. He says that these cul¬ 
tures, while undoubtedly improving the flavor of the 
butter, injure its keeping quality—or, at least, that 
butter made in this way will not keep as long as that 
in which the cultures were not used. This dealer is, 
evidently, mistaken. Experiments have been made 
both in this country and in Europe with these cul¬ 
tures or “ starters,” and it is safe to say that, in 
every recorded case, they have produced butter of 
superior keeping quality. In fact, some buttermakers 
use the cultures because they are convinced that the 
butter made with them keeps better. The flavor of 
an onion is very distinct from that of a rose, and no 
one need be told that it is impossible to make rose 
water by distilling onions. The good and bad flavors 
in butter are just about as distinct as those of rose 
and onion. They have been separated so carefully 
that a dairyman may put into his cream a culture or 
“starter” that will develop the finest flavor with abso¬ 
lute accuracy. This has been abundantly proved, and it 
will be a pity if, by wrong statements about its 
effect on the keeping quality of butter, dairymen are 
led to give up experiments with it. 
© 
There has been a good deal of talk among farmers 
and at agricultural meetings about a change in the 
constitution that will provide for the election of 
United States Senators by the direct vote of the peo¬ 
ple. We believe that this is a desirable thing, but 
not any more so than a change in the methods of 
nominating county and local officers. The nomina¬ 
tions are usually made by so-called “ conventions ” 
which are usually controlled by a few shrewd poli¬ 
ticians who are able to have their personal or politi¬ 
cal friends sent as delegates. Our observation is that 
the average sheriff or county clerk is selected, not 
because of his business qualifications, but because of 
his service to his party in securing votes. Just so 
long as the convention system of nominating prevails, 
loyalty to party will be considered the chief test in 
selecting candidates. In these hard times, a farmer 
may be willing to pay full wages to a lazy or in¬ 
competent hired man, just beeaqge he belongs 
to his political party, but we doubt it. We also 
doubt whether he is glad to pay increased taxes in 
order that some political worker may have a “ soft 
job.” The remedy lies in abolishing the convention 
and nominating candidates at a primary election at 
which all the members of the party may vote. We 
are glad to see that Governor-elect Pingree, of 
Michigan, advocates this change. 
© 
We print considerable information about Lima 
beans this week. Some of our readers may not grow 
this excellent vegetable. They will, at least, be 
interested to know that, with a single exception, viz., 
dried -peas, the Lima bean gives a higher per cent of 
muscle-makers than any other cultivated vegetable. 
These beans are grown on high poles, and the vines 
make an enormous growth. Thus the yield per acre 
is four or five times the average yield of low beans or 
peas. Taking average crops of Limas, peas, corn, 
peanuts and potatoes, the following table shows the 
great possibilities of the Lima bean plant as a food 
producer: 
TRODUCT OF AN ACRE IN TOUNDS. 
Muacle-makers. Fat-formers Pure fat. 
Lima beans.572 2,415 65 
Peas.289 738 13 
Corn.204 1,867 119 
Peanuts.346 326 518 
Potatoes.216 1,839 12 
The fact is that there is no cultivated plant in Amer¬ 
ica that will produce, in one season, more actual food 
per acre than the Lima bean. The peanut comes 
next to it, but the great value of the Lima lies in the 
fact that it contains a high per cent of the expensive 
muscle-makers. Some day dairymen will learn how 
to grow Limas in the ensilage corn. The vines will 
utilize the stalks for a pole, and all will be cut 
together into the silo to make a “ balanced ration”. 
As a matter of actual food value, a quart of green, 
shelled Lima beans contains more actual nourish¬ 
ment than a pound of steak, a pound of fresh 
mutton or a pound of salt mackerel. A pound of 
dried Limas contains more food than a pound of 
cheese or a pound of flour or a pound of ham. No 
wonder those who “ know how” grow Lima beans. 
In our own garden, we always allow 10 poles for each 
member of the family—large and small. 
© 
BREVITIES. 
“I wish you’d give the baby right away! ” 
Said little Johnnie, “ She’s so cross and bad 
She doesn’t do a thing but cry all day, 
And make up faces. Oh ! it makes me sad 
To think that Santa Claus on Christmas eve 
Might hear her cry so loud and think it’s me, 
And just turn ’round and go and never leave 
A single present for my little tree. 
I’ve tried so bard to mind you, mamma! Oh! 
If Santa Claus should hear the baby cry 
Just as she does sometimes, and never know 
It wasn’t me, I don’t think I could try 
Much longer; so let’s let the baby go! ” 
Ah, little Johnnie, do not have a fear 
That good old Santa Claus will never know 
How hard you try—keep on, for he can hear 
The faintest call—and larger Johnnies, too, 
Who fear that honest labor has been lost, 
Rise through each trouble but to learn anew 
That self-denial earns more than its cost! 
No man can flourish on flourishes. 
Make your note book a know it book. 
The hide-bound horse wears a sealed skin coat. 
The surplus rooster makes his owner a rue ster. 
Not all roses—the family life that is full of rows. 
Strife will shorten life! Don’t commit suicide with your tongue. 
Now, then, turn in and s mother the bad things you have fath¬ 
ered. 
You can’t raise a home market without cultivation and adver 
tising. 
Afflicted with parsimony ! The family in which no one but 
Pa is permitted to see money ! 
1 ’ Natural Plant Food” is a fraud. Will its manufacturers 
stop selling it or quarter the price ? 
“ Gambling in stock !” Feeding good food to a cow and then 
“guessing” that she pays for her board. 
One feeding law for dairy cows may thus be tersely stated: 
the animal should never be made fat or constipated. 
Take notes on the scrub cow’s yield and let them go to protest 
against the plan of turning her daughters into cows. 
The record of your dairy herd scaled uji to ounce and pound, 
will find you tacking up this sign, “ No Robber Cows Around! ” 
□ Don’t forget that vaseline or sweet oil on the hen’s comb or 
wattles will often prevent freezing or take the sting out when 
frozen. 
The Georgia Station, in its strawberry bulletin, gives an excel¬ 
lent symposium from southern berry growers. This is an excel¬ 
lent plan. 
Mr. C. J. Norton of Kansas says that the only time for killing 
weeds is on a clear day with high barometer. At other times, 
about all you do is to transplant the weeds. 
See how printer’s ink helped Mr. Field, page 832, sell his cab¬ 
bage crop ? First he got something good, and then he let people 
talk about it. Your local paper would do the same. Try it! 
The Army worm hates the sunshine and would rather stay in 
dark, damp places. Some dairymen seem to think that their little 
calves have the same habits as Army worms. That is, if we may 
judge by the places in which the calves are kept! What else 
should we judge by ? 
Counterfeiting of fractional silver is largely carried on. The 
counterfeits contain more actual silver than the true coins, and 
cannot be detected except by weighing and assaying ! One hun¬ 
dred “ bogus” quarters, when melted up, may actually be worth 
more than 100 “ true ” coins. 
